Christ Lutheran Church: Welcome

Title

The Echo of Mordecai

The Book of Esther

Esther 4:4

March 5, 2006

Rev. Dave R. Garwick

So this man is having a problem with his son and goes to see his rabbi.  "I sent him to Hebrew School and gave him a very expensive Bar Mitzvah," says the man, "and now he tells me he's decided to be a Christian!  Rabbi, where did I go wrong?"  "Funny you should come to me," said the Rabbi.  "I also brought my boy up in the faith and gave him a fancy Bar Mitzvah.  Then one day he, too, tells me he's decided to become a Christian."  "So what did you do?"  asked the man.  "I turned to God for the answer" replied the Rabbi.  "And what did he say?"  pressed the man.  "God said, 'Funny you should come to Me...' "

Now wait!  Before you accuse me of being politically incorrect, I GOT this joke off a Jewish web-site.  A Purim joke site, to be exact.  Purim is kind of like the Jewish Mardi Gras - a great big festival where this kind of joke telling is a big deal.  In fact, this year, Purim will be celebrated a week from tomorrow.  There will be traditional games and foods and all kinds of good natured hullabaloo with masks and costumes galore.  Come to the Adult Ed class today where De Anderson has got some Purim surprises waiting for you.  When Huck and Renee and I returned to Tel Aviv to board our plane back home a few years ago, we had to spend hours trying to find a flight because of a baggage handler strike.  We couldn't speak Israeli and of course no one seemed to be able to speak any English beside the word "no".  And to add to the surreal nature of it all, a number of the flakey airline people were wearing what looked like Halloween masks and costumes!  It did not look promising.  It was Purim.

Purim is something that Jesus must have looked forward to every year - a celebration of what happened in the Book of Esther which is what we're focusing on today - an ancient story of court intrigue, deception, miscommunication, drunken parties, assassination plots, a foolish king, a delinquent queen, villains, a strong hero and one beautiful heroine.  It has GOT to be one of the most fun books of the entire Bible!  Here's the story in a nutshell:  a beautiful Jewish girl named Esther becomes Queen to the Persian king in present day Iran.  But he does not know that she is Jewish when one of his advisors, Haman, buffalos him into issuing a decree to wipe out all the Jews in Persia.  She risks her life in revealing her Jewish identity to plead for the lives of her people.  The king supports her and hangs the guy who put him up to it.

So to this day, Jews celebrate Purim to remember how God saved them by placing Esther into the enemy court - the same way God had long ago done with Moses and later with Joseph.  Strangely enough, though, Esther is the only book in the entire Bible which never mentions or even alludes to God, which is one reason why Martin Luther thought it should be kicked out of the Bible, even though he had great reverence for Queen Esther herself.  Thus, one important message that can be gained from the story is that God often works in ways that are not apparent, in ways that appear to be chance, coincidence or ordinary good luck.

In the story of Esther, however, perhaps the most famous line is where the Queen's uncle Mordecai is trying to talk a frightened Esther into intervening with the King.  This is what Mordecai tells her:  "who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"  (Est 4:14)

This is one of the most important passages in the Bible to me - especially when I am discourages, when I am asking what I am doing here or there, why in the world I took on this or that task, when I think, "I don't NEED this hassle".  That is when I remember the words of Mordecai:  "who knows but that you have come to [a] position for such a time as this?"

A few years back I went through the Billy Graham School of Evangelism where Cliff Barrows was one of my instructors.  Of all the things I learned, one principle stood out more than all the rest:  "You are not where you are by accident - Grow where God has planted you."

It is true that sometimes it IS time for a person to move on from temporary commitments.  But especially when major or permanent commitments are involved, listen in your soul for the echo of Mordecai:  "who knows but that you have come to [a] position for such a time as this?"

It is a scientific fact that you are one of a kind.  And you are the only person in all the history of the universe who is where you are at any given point in times.  And when you see someone getting the short end of the stick, who else but you is there who has been commanded by Jesus to love that person the way Jesus has loved you?  Brother of Jesus, sister of Jesus, you like Esther CAN afford to reveal your true identity, you CAN afford to risk earthly things because you know where your real treasure is.  You CAN risk the judgment of others, because Jesus has already stood up for you.  "Who knows but that you have come the [this] position for such a time as this?"